1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for protecting the pins of an electronic component, for example, a magnetic read head.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A check reader or a magnetic card reader generally comprises a magnetic read head connected to a printed circuit, which is generally called the reader motherboard. The magnetic read head is comprised of a rigid body containing the internal components of the head and access terminals. The access terminals correspond to metal pins which project from the body of the read head and enable transmission of the signals measured by the read head. The connections between pins of the read head and the motherboard may be wire connections.
Generally, the motherboard and the read head are arranged in a package in which protection devices are provided for detecting an unauthorized access to the motherboard. An example of a protection device corresponds to a flexible membrane at least partly covering the motherboard and in which a lattice-shaped conductive track is provided. The ends of the conductive track are connected to a protection circuit provided at the motherboard level. An attempt of access to the motherboard generally causes an interruption in the conductive track of the membrane. This is detected by the protection circuit and results, for example, in the stopping of the reader operation.
However, especially due to the position of the read head with respect to the motherboard in the reader package, it is generally not possible to protect the read head by means of conventional motherboard protection devices. An individual could then have access to the pins of the read head and collect the signals transmitted on these pins without for such an operation to be detected by the conventional protection devices of the reader.
To protect the pins of the read head, it is necessary to provide a dedicated protection device. A possibility is to partly encapsulate the read head in a rigid cap having an associated protection device, for example, of lattice membrane type. However, there exist many different types of readers, and thus many different arrangements of the read head and of the motherboard in the reader package. The cap shape must then be adapted case by case according to the positions of the read head and of the motherboard in the package. The cost of a protection device with a cap is thus high.